Twins' Trevor Plouffe ready to bounce back from broken forearm

"I got to take the time off that I needed to rest it and let it heal," Plouffe said. "I've been rehabbing it out in Southern California. It really didn't set me back as far as timeline, as far as the gym, weightlifting and my baseball activities. It's obviously not something you want to have happen, but it was a good time for it to happen."

Plouffe hit .258 in 2014 with 14 home runs and 80 RBI in 520 at-bats, but knows his statistics aren't the focus for the team this season.

"I'm just going to try to continue to improve in every facet of the game," Plouffe said. "The big thing for us this year is just wins, putting all the personal statistics aside. I think Mollie's going to bring that to the clubhouse. We just want to win. We want to win games. We've made some additions that are going to help that."

2014 summary: The old adage is that doubles become home runs for blossoming hitters, but as Trevor Plouffe settles into his peak years, it appears that his homers have become doubles. Plouffe had never hit more than 22 doubles in any previous season, but in 2014, he produced 40 for the Twins. However, for the second year in a row, he hit 14 home runs, well short of his career high of 24 established in 2012. Plouffe established career highs in batting average (.258), on-base percentage (.328), runs (69) and RBI (80), all of which contributed to his 12th-place ranking among third basemen in Rotisserie value and 13th-place ranking in Fantasy points.

Playing time status: Plouffe has missed some time in each of the last three season with trips to the disabled list, and he has never played in more than 136 games in a year, but he is healthy this offseason.

2015 outlook: It's not clear where Plouffe's doubles binge came from, but it likely helped that he improved his plate discipline. There's still the chance that Plouffe adds home runs back into the mix, but most likely, he will offer owners a similar level of production to what he gave them last season. That would be enough to justify drafting him with a late-round pick in standard mixed leagues.
(Updated 12/9/14)